When Walls Come Down
When Walls Come Down is the twelfth mission in the classic campaign of Railroad Tycoon II. It is the sixth and final mission of the European act of the classic campaign. The premise of the scenario is the construction of modern railroads in Eastern Europe following the fall of the Berlin wall and communist ideology in the region. The map used for this mission is a portrayal of Eastern Europe. Overview Introduction Spiel With the Cold War over, it's just a matter of time before a talented individual such as yourself will create order out of chaos and bring the former Warsaw Pact regions new economic life. Among the great many opportunities all around you, there's a bonus for connecting Frankfurt to Moscow... Bring me back a piece of the wall! Victory Conditions * Bronze: '''Have a personal net worth of $5 million and connect Alborg to Warsaw by 2020 * '''Silver: Have a personal net worth of $10 million and connect Alborg and Venice with Warsaw by 2020. * Gold: '''Have a personal net worth of $20 million and connect Alborg, Venice and Istanbul with Warsaw by 2020. A loss will be triggered if the player either does not have a net worth of $5 million and/or hasn't connected Alborg to Warsaw by the end of 2020. Available Bonuses * '''Choice 1: -20% Track Construction * Choice 2: -25% Station Turnaround Time * Choice 3: +20% Engine Speed The choice of bonus could depend on the strategy utilized for this scenario. Choice 1 is arguably the best due to the fact that a lot of track will be built in this scenario in order to get the gold. Cities are very far apart, and more than likely electric track will be used, so significant costs will be saved with this 20% reduction in track construction cost. Long-distance routes can be accessed sooner, further increasing profit potential. However, with consideration that personal net worth is the goal of the scenario, certain strategies may not require a lot of track to be built. In that case, choice 1 may not be so useful, as the bonus only extends in proportion to the amount of track that is built. Choice 2 is probably the least useful. Although 25% better station turnaround sounds good, it only applies to acceleration at stations. Since most of the trains will be traveling long distances, most of the congestion and accelerating that occurs will not be at stations, rendering the bonus to be fairly useless under most circumstances. Choice 3 is considerable. If a relatively small amount of track is used in this scenario, this choice is probably better than Choice 1. It should result in up to a 20% bonus in profit, although a high operational efficiency will be required to reap anywhere close to that. Starting Situation * Starting Year: '''1991 * '''Player Name: Minor Keith ** Starting Player Cash: $70K personal cash ** 'Starting Player Stock: '''1,000 shares of Polska National (10% of the company) * '''Company Name: '''Polska National ** '''Starting Company Cash: '$910K The player starts with no infrastructure. Ending Spiel My, oh my! First North America, then Europe! All on track to success...good job! Now...one last round remains to be dealt with...the exotic Far East... Cultural, political, as well as economic hurdles stand in your way as this part of the world wants to match the economic might of the western world. Strategy When Walls Come Down is one of the most challenging scenarios in the Classic Campaign. It is the only scenario that takes place in the modern era, where construction and maintenance costs are at their highest, and passenger production is at it's lowest. Thus, high efficiency is required in order to turn a profit, and money is tight especially at the beginning. Furthermore, a $20M personal net worth is a part of the gold objective. This is really hard to obtain. Using company dividends isn't a great option to increase PNW, it is difficult to make the company profitable enough for this to work. Company Stock will likely make up the bulk of the personal net worth. The issue with this is that Stock is extremely subject to the economic performance. AI construction can also get in the way of good expansion spots at times, so success in this scenario is also luck-based to a certain extent. As mentioned earlier, this scenario is relatively fluid in terms of strategy, and a number unconventional strategies can be used in this scenario to reach the PNW goal. The strategy guide below details the more conventional strategy of purchasing company stock, and building up the company. Starting Out The beginning of the scenario is relatively uncomplicated. However, a good start is paramount in order to avoid trouble down the road. To start off, the player only has access to Poland, and doesn't have a lot of funds. However, the Polish Government will give the player $500K within a few months as an event. If the player issues a bond, this actually gives the player quite a bit to go off with. There are some key decisions to be made right now. Where to start, and whether to utilize electric traction. Firstly in the modern era, it's important to find two starting cities that are large, but also far away from each other. One possibility to begin is Poznan and Warsaw. They will be able to generate an initial profit, and also are in a good spot to expand either east or west. Now the player must decide whether they want to use diesel or electric traction to play out this scenario. Electric traction requires the construction of electric track, which costs nearly 3 times as much as regular track. However, electric locomotives are much cheaper to maintain than all diesel locomotives, and performs better with loads as well (considering the Class E111). It is possible to be successful with either electric or diesel traction, although in the long run electrification will just about always pay off and profit over the use of diesel locomotives. With this in mind, construct a single electric track between Warsaw and Poznan. Crossing the river at Warsaw with a wooden bridge is recommended. Medium stations at each city should be sufficient to cover all houses. Sanding Towers are needed at both stations, but a roundhouse is only required in one of the two. With the remaining money, purchase two Class E111 locomotives to run between these two cities (one starting at each end of the line), running with whatever passenger and mail is available at the two cities. For this scenario, freight will not be needed, there is not enough existing capital to establish a profitable freight network. Micromanage the loads for the next year or so. Right now, the player should purchase as much stock as possible on margin. The price will go up in the first year, and will split, so it is definitely paramount to do so right away. These two locomotives will be unlikely to bring enough profit to expand on their own, another bond will need to be issued. Unfortunately, credit rating only changes at the end of the year, so the player will have to wait before being able to expand further. First Expansions At first, the Poznan to Warsaw line will be profitable. The player will want to make the most of this. With the new year, it is now possible to issue the bond that is needed. The player should now have enough money to expand their railroad. There are a few choices to consider. Vilnius and Kaunas are two cities close enough to serve with one large station in between. Lithuanian land rights are dirt cheap at around $10K. Berlin is also a possibility for expansion, as it is a similar size to Vilnius and Kaunas combined. While German rights are more expensive (at around $400K), Berlin is much closer. These two connections cost the same considering all factors (roughly around $1,000K). However, since Berlin is closer to Poznan and Warsaw, Berlin is arguably less profitable than Vilnius/Kaunas for now. Berlin is still an important city to secure in the long run though. If an AI is possibly able to connect to Berlin in the near future, then connecting to Berlin is the better option. For now, there is no need to purchase any new locomotives, adding Vilnius-Kaunas (or Berlin) to the destination list for the two existing locomotives will be suffice to provide an efficient service. Continue micromanaging loads of the two locomotives for the time being in order to maximize this efficiency. The next goal should be connect the other city out of Vilnius-Kaunas and Berlin. As mentioned earlier, $1,000K will be needed to make this connection. Another locomotive in order to match the extra supply, which means an extra $390K will be needed. The player should issue as many bonds as possible in order to afford it. Rearrange the destination lists of each locomotive as necessary. The Class E111 is strong enough to haul six cars of any cargo profitably, so trains should always be as full as possible. The player now has a profitable network in place. However, the player needs to expand much further in order to stand a chance for the gold. Long distance passenger routes are the biggest money makers in the game, and the player needs to expand quickly in order to unlock some far off destinations, allowing for these routes to be created. In order to achieve this, the player should expand whenever money is available, taking as many bonds as possible to do this. Odessa is the best city to aim for at first. It is a large city which can create a very profitable route when passenger trains are run between it and Berlin. It's best to build the route via L'viv and Kiev, as only the territory of Ukraine has to be purchased for now. L'viv and Kiev are also large cities that are worth servicing. The player should add these two cities to the destination list of existing locomotives as they become connected, and if supply is still high, then an extra locomotive or two can be bought. It may take a few years, but when Odessa is finally connected, then begin running a few express passenger services between Odessa and some of the larger Polish and German towns such as Berlin and Poznan. These trains should generate extraordinary amounts of profit at a very quick rate once they get going, and should help speed up expansion of the network significantly. Building up Personal Net Worth The primary goal of the scenario is to attain a personal net worth of $20 million. As mentioned earlier, the player will need to rely on owning most of the company stock in order to get this, as utilizing dividends isn't a viable strategy. While expanding the network, keep an eye on the stock price at all times. Since there are only a few locomotives, and expenses are high, profit will be very inconsistent for several years. This means stock prices will be very low at times, but will improve at times as well. During the lean times, the player wants to buy up as much stock on margin as possible without putting himself at risk of going bankrupt. Generally, a good rule of thumb is that under normal economic conditions and stock pricing, the player's negative cash amount never exceeds double that of the purchasing power. During periods of recession and depression, it's less risky to overextend, since prices should only increase from low price. With this in mind, the player should aggressively buy the shares of their own company, as much as can be bought, particularly during lean economic periods. By the end of the scenario, the player should own nearly all company stock, so that a rise in stock price can seal victory for the player. However, in order to get the stock price, the company must increase it's equity. To do this, the player should still continue to expand the network. Moscow is a huge city that will has a lot of money-making potential. Extend the track north east from Vilnius-Kaunas to Vitsyebsk, taking loans as needed, and again eastwards towards Moscow when it is viable. Once the connection is made, run express trains between Moscow and the existing network. At this point, there is a lot of passenger supply coming from the east (Odessa, Moscow, Vilnius-Kaunas in particular), which may not be matched by western cities to take back. The player should now expand their network westwards to meet this issue. One possibility is extending south west from Berlin, and constructing large station encompassing both Frankfurt and Stuttgart. An important thing to consider is that connecting Frankfurt and Moscow will give the player a $2,500K bonus from an event. While this sounds enticing right now, the bonus applies to profit, and it may be worth saving until just before getting the gold to inflate performance and stock price. Therefore, the station should be connected to Stuttgart rather than Frankfurt. Another profitable expansion is extending south west from Poznan to Munich. For both of these cities, existing express services from Moscow and Odessa should be diverted to them. Finally, a third possibility for expanding the network is a large station between Kaliningrad and Gdansk, getting as many houses from both cities as possible, and then connecting it to the network either at Warsaw or Vilnius. This station will have a huge supply of passengers, and trains can be sent all over the map and make significant profit. Getting the Gold At this stage, the network should be more profitable, the increase in long-distance routes will pay off over time. The stock price of the player's company should be rising. A quick way of increasing the stock price is to pay off all debt. The player will likely be currently swarming in debt. Yearly profit will be checked significantly by yearly interest. The player should now allocate all existing cash and future revenue to repaying these bonds. Doing this in quick order will significantly increase profit, and an increase the value of stock. Since the company will be performing way better, the player can now raise company dividends to a very high level, as a means of getting to the $20 million. The company stock value can be further inflated by connecting to Frankfurt (a small station will do), and gaining the $2,500K bonus. If this is all done at once, well timed with an economic boom, the player should definitely have reached the $20 Million in player net worth required. If this still isn't enough, the player should use the 'stop the trains' strategy will the long hauls, which will ensure this objective is completed. With the hard part out of the scenario out of the way, the player now simply needs to connect their network to three cities as stated in the briefing: Alborg, Venice and Istanbul. Small stations in each will do, and no electric track is required. Sometimes these cities will already be connected by the AI, but simply build around them and as long as the station is within the city radius, it will count. No loads need to be hauled. The player will be awarded the gold medal.Category:Railroad Tycoon II Category:Campaign Scenarios